The Sun. — London, England, 1818-12-26 00:00:00

These rrtssensions have been consiibred as one or ti r caases thar produced those which so i h.. el nently took place among the Patriots themselves, and vehirit hate been • most serious obstacles to the progress of the revolotion. Other obsta des w - ever, have hero presented hy the Royal Govern went in Pent, which has hitherto not only been ;Lille to sustain itself there, but has fo,titd weans., by enlisting the native Peruvians in its service, to send at differeor times consider,ihle armies into the upper provinces on the La Plata, where the war It an been carried rut from the commenceinent of • the lievolittiow to the present day with va t'ittts success ; • the izreat extent and peculiar cha racter of the country, and the wa nt of re *ources.haViag prevented either party front mak ing a blow decistke of the contest. When we came away, the advantage in that quarter was on the side of the Spaniards. as they were in piissessnm of the provinces of Upper Peru, which had, to a cert ( ain degree at least, joined in the rt-- voluti,a, and some of wbich are represented iu the Congress, Every where else they have been oblit'ed to yield up the G vernment and abandon the Country, or submit to the ruling power. Tire peculiar situation of Monte Video, on the east side of t ist river La Platt, open to the sea, and stro•l!ly fortified, enabled the Spanish naval and military forces, at an early period of the revolu tion,-to make a stand there; they were tiltimatelv obliged to surrender' it ; not., however, until long-protracted, and pethaps.ilkdireeted, efforts -on O l e part of the assailants, had given rise to many j.irring incidents Oct ween those that came front the opposite shores of the fivers ; probably the effect, in part, at least, of ancient jealousies, kept alive by the individual interest of different lvaders ;. ?Luse have been followed by ev e nts cal ctilated to pro, , nce a still greater idienation ; and, although several attempts have been made to hring .shout a union, they have hitherto hero utisuccess . Jul. The prod tees of the " Banda °tient al" and the " En•re Itios," on the e a srern side o f the river, rimier the direction of Generil Artigas, are now at war .vith those on the WySteril side, tinder the Government of the Congress at Buenos-Ayres. This war has originated from a combination of causes, in wlOcit both parties have, perhaps, some thing to complain of, and something to blame theinselves for. G< i,etal Artieas and his followers profess- a be lief that it is the inttn , ion of the Goveinnient of Buenos Ayres to put them down, and oblige thvm to stibmit to such arrangements as will dein ive pt, etn o f t he privileges of self-government, to which City claim to ha' e a right. They say, bowevvr, th t they are willine to suite rtith the people on western side of the river ;. but not in such a way as trill sttLject them- to tvhat they call the tyranny of the city of Buenos Ayres. On the other baud, it is swed, that this is merely a pretext ; that the real object of Gen. Artigas and some-of the principal officers isto prevent a union on any terms, anti to preserve t he pOwer they have acquired bygiv lug; an el roneotts excitement to the people who fol low them ; that it is wished and intended to place there provinces on a looting with the others ; that the respectable portion of their inhabitants are aware of this fact, anti anxious for a union, but are - prevented from openly expressing their sent i- Itients from a fear of General Artigas, whose poser is uncontrolled by /law or justice ; and he propriety and necessity of aiding, them to rr•kt i Arrniei have accordingly been in4rch. cd \Obi') the present year into these provinces ; but ftev were not joined by a number of did in li4bit an! s, and were defeated with great This war is evidently a source of great injury and regret ; and, at the same time, of extraw iirilioion to both parties; fur, independently tit' other causes of recriminaiion, each accuses the other of baVing brought about that state of things 'which threatens to place a most important and 'valuable portion of their country in the hands of a t °reign power, who has invaded it with a re gular aid well appointed army, and is gradually tal; , Ag possession of commanding points, from %chic)) it may be ditlieult for their united, force hereafter to dislo►fge them. That they will unite is, I think, to he calculated On, unless sonic event disastrous to (hr•cause of the revolution it- self takes place ; for their mutual interest requires • a union. But more of moderation and discretion may be necessary to bring, it •ahout than is at this time to be expected from the irritated feelings of some of the principal personages on hot ii sides. The city of Santa-Fe, and a small district of country around it. also refuse to acknowledge the authority of Govern went of 'Buenos Ayres. in Para. , , , ilay the events of the Revolution have differed from those iii any other Province, as the inhabitants of that country have uniformly re sisted the efforts ot the other Provinces to unite them. After having aided the Spanish phced over them to repel a mil!tary force which had been sent to overthrow them, they themselves expelled from their country these authorities, and establish— ed a Government of their own, totally Uncon nected with that of *the other Provinces, with wholn they manifest an unwillingness to keep up evem'a commercial intercourse. This has given rise to a suspicion in the minds of sonic that there is a secret predilection among them for the an cient order of things. Bit, from what is said of thir cold and calculating character—from the _ . safe position of their country, and its capacity t o supp l y its own wants, it is probable that tbeir object is to husband their resources, a nd profit by the exertions of others, :%:ithout giving their own in aid of them ; and possibly, in case of ultimate White, to place their conduct in a less objection. al& - point of view before the Government of Spain. Whatever may have been their motives, they have I , i!herto con:rived to escape in a great tue,,snre the evils of war. Their resources, in mete and money, are said to be considerable, and no country is more inde pendent of foreign supplies. Their conduct furnishes a striking contrast to that of the people of Buenos Ayres, who entered into the revolution with unbounded zeal and ener gy, and have ever been ready to meet the diffi culties of so great an undertaking. This circutn glance, connected with th&r local situation,greater resource's, and More general information, and per iws the fact of their having been the first to ge t power into their hanos, have had the effect to give them a controlling infinence,overthe revolutionary )vernuaeut, which has not fai:ed to excite, in tome degree, the jealousy of the other provinces, and amongst themselves a feeling of superiority little calculated to allay their jealousy. Great ,ails were at one time apprehended from this state things - ; bait the Congress which bet at Tucu man, in March, 1816, couiposed of Deputies from he sere' al provinces then united, assumed the soreteign power of the country, boldly declared its absolute indeprndence, and adopted a provisional form of Government, which is understood to have the eifect of allaying dissensions, and of intro dicing a mote regular administration at public affairs. It will he seen from the documents in'yourpos• ,easion, that this provisional Constitution recog nizes many of the pi inciplcs of free Government : but with such drawbacks as are little calculated to enforce them in practice. Great allowances are doubtless to he made for the circumstanceseof the times. and the danger awl difficulty it testing up aueitio institutions, or of atcaptiag new principles to them. But, after doe allowance for all these considerations, it did not appear -to me that so much had been done for the Cause of civil liberty as might have been expected, or that those in power were its strongest advocates. It is gene rally adtra;lted, however, that some changes for the better have been made. Much rare seems to bes :aken to educate the rising generation, and as those who are now coining on the theatre ot action have grown up since the commencement of the re volution, and have had the advantages of the light thrown in by it, it is fair to suppose that they will he better prepared to support and administer a tree Government titan those whose habits were formed tinder the colonial Government of Spain. The conanerce and, manufactures of the coun try have grown beyond its agliculture. Various causes, linwever, hive contributed to lessen some branches of manatacture since the Revolution, but coMmurce isuflderstood to have been increas ed by it. A much greater variety and quantity of foreign gontl i s are imported, and a greater de mat! is ()rued for the productions ot the coon , try. The city ot Buenos Ayres is the seat of this cornint rce. Flom it, foreigu and some domestic g oods are spread through the interior, as far as • Chili and Upper Pete, and, in return, rite various productions are drawn to it. This trade is car riettaiai principally by land, as is that between the different Provinces, though some small portion of it finds its way up and down the large rivers tormMg the La Plata, which is itself not so much a river as a great bay. The abundance of cattle, horses, and mules, and of some other animals pe coliar to the country, which are tislql in the : ni,mntaitroul regions of Peru, foruish facilities for trausportation not to be found in any other conn iry so little itnpioved ; hence the price of traits portation is vriy low, and the internal trade greater than it otherwise would be, though it had been materially lessened in sonic important branches by the war with Peru, and the system adopted in Paraguay. The export and import trade is principally in the hands of the British, though the United States and other that-iota participate in it to a certain de gree. It i s oapended on as the great source of revenue to the State ; hence they have been tempted to make the duties very high, and to lay them upon both imports and exports, with the exception of lumber and military stores This circumstance, connected with the tact that pay metit is demanded at the Custom house before the goods are delivered, has led to a regular sys tem of smuggling, which is said to be carried to great excess, and doulviess occasions the official Returns to tall short of the actual amount of the trade. This may be the reason why they were not given to its. 'fhe 'articles imported are al most every variety of - European and East India goods, priocipally front England ; rum, sugar, cuifte, tobacco, cotton, and timber, from Brazil; lothber of • almost every description, cod-fish, fur n iture, gin, and some smaller articles, from the United States, together with the military stores ; which, however, filed their way into -the country directly from Europe, and are thus for- Joshed at a cheaper rate than we can sell them.— The principal articles of export are taken from the various animals of the country, tame and wild, front the ox to the chincilla ; copper from Chili, and some of the precious metals, drawn princi pally front Peru ; but as gold is worth 17 dollars the oz, and passed by tale at that rate, very little of it is exported ; hence time cu rteney of the coun try is gold ; for they have no paper money. The " Libranzas," or bills of credit, issued by the Government, are, however, an article of traffic among the merchants, as they are received in pay ment of one half of the duties. No distinction is made in favour of the trade of any nation, save only that the British merchants have some pear liar facilities them in relation to their let ters, which - are an object of taxation, at least so far as applies to those sent out of the conotry. In the official statements given to- us, In which 1 beg leave generally to refer for information as to the foreign relations, the productions, military and naval force, revenue, and population, the hater is stated at 1,300,000-, exclusive of Indians. This is understood aseconpreheuding the poptilaa tiou of all the provinces ; hot, as sortie of them are not under the Government of Buenos . A Fes, 1 have thought it propel' to annex the several esti mates I have collected of the population of each province, -as they may serve to give sonle general ieformation on that point. The most imme diate difficulty felt by the 'Government, whilat we were in , the country, seemed to arise from the want of money ; for although the debt was a sniall, their credit was low. It had not been found practicable to adopt a system -of finance adequate to the exigencies of the times, though it would seem, from the statements given to us, that tire revenue of the last year exceeded the expenses. 'Die important events of the pre s ent year in Chili, of which you arc informed, will doubtless have the effect to raise the credit of the country, and to lessen the pressure upon it, at least for a time, and will probably leave the.Go yernment inure at leisure to attend to its, internal affairs. When we came a way,'it was understood that'a Committee of the Congress was engaged in draft ing a new Constitutison, the power of forming and adopt . lng it being exclusively vested i n ( l in Congress. Wheiher it %vill assmne'a federal or a natiumil character, Is sutacoiLat di,ubcf,ll, as there are evidently two parties in the country,' whose views this respect are very different, and it is believed that they are both represented in the Congress. The one party is in favour of a conso lidated or National Government ; the other wishes for aFederal Government, somewhat upon the principles of that of the United States. The probability seems to be, that, although there might be a majority of the people in the Pro vineesgene.rally in favour of the federal system, it would not be adopted, upon the ground that it was not so well calculated as a national Go.: vernment to provide for the common defence, the great object now it) view. The same general reason anay be urged, perhaps; for giving to the latter, should it be adopted, less 'of a re publican character than probably would have been given to it in more quiet anti peace ful times. There is danger too, as the power of tormiog and adoroiog the Constitution is placed in the hands of a fee,', that the rights and ptivileges of the people may not be so well understood or at tended to as they would hive been had the people themselves had a more immediate agency in the affair. It is not to be doubted, however, that it will at least have a republican form, and be bot tomed upon the principles of independence, which is contended for by all descriptions of politicians - in the country who have taken part in the revolution, and will, it is believed, be supported by them, in any event, tootle last extremity. Their means of defence, of which they are folly aware, are, in proportion •to their num- • hers, greater perhaps than those •of almost any other people, and the duration and the events of the war have strengthened the general determination never to 'submit to Spain.— . This determination rests upon time recolleetiona of former sufferings and deprivations ; upon a con scientiousness of their ability to defend and to govern themselves ; and upon a conviction, that in case of submission on any terms,"they would, ,00ner or later, be made to feel the vengeance of the mother country. These considerations doubt less have the roost weight upon those who have" taken a leading part. They, of course, use all. their influence to ioforce them, and thus to keep up the spirit of the revolution. In this they proba bly have had the less difficulty; as although -the fferingS of the people have been great, par! ienlar ly in military service ; and in raising contributions necessary for that service,yet t he incubus of Spanish power being thrown off, and with it that train 'of followers who filled up almost every'avenue to wealth and consequence, the higher classes have been awakened to a sense of advantages they did not before enjoy. They have' seen their com merce freed from legal restraints, their articles of export become more valuable, (heir supplies for- Dished at a lower rate, and all the offices of Go veroment, or other employments, bid open to them as fair objects of competition. The lower classes have found their labour more in demand, and better paid for ; and their importance in so ciety greater that) it formerly was. They are yto, however, from their indolence, general want of educatiou, and the great mixture of " costs" among them, in a degraded state; but little felt ie the affairs of the Government. Time stimulus now given Will operate to produce a change in them for time better, and, it is presum ed, will gradually have its rfieet, as their docility,. intelligence, and activity, when called into ser vice, give evidence that they arc nut deficient in natural or physical powers. Labour, as it becomes more general, will be come less irksome to individuals, and the gradual acerisition of property which must necessarily re sult from it in such a country, under a good Go vernment, will doubtless produce the happy effects there which it has uniformly produced elsewhere, and more especially in countries where the po pulation is small when compared to the extent of territory. I am very sensible that I may have been led into errors of fact, or inference. In toat case I can plead .honesty of intention, .and the difficulty of collecting at a single point, and within a limit ed time, correct information ; or of analyzing that which was collected, respecting a people in a state of revolution, who are spread over an immense country, and whose habits, institutions, and lan guage, are so different from our own. 1 have only to add, that we were politely re ceived by the Supreme Director, who made every profes . sion for'our Government, and.c - .iery offer of . aaaorom od t oiou to us, as its agents, which we had a right to expect, and that the people manifested on all occasions the most friendly dispositions. [To be contilioed.l PROVINCIAL JOURNALS. There have been so litany sophistical arguments, Find so many specious attemp3 to excite a false pity in the public mind, on account of the culprits who were Lately excentei for (orgery, that we think it necessary to copy the observations which appeared ,in The (Dublin) Correspondent of Ole 21st instant. '' It is now clearly ascertained, that the Peti tion affecting to express the supplications of Driscol. Weller, and Cashman, for mercy to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, was a for gery—that the unfortunate men in whose names it was couched, were inconscious of its existence a 0 d that, according ro the best-informed London Papers, it was connected with a deep-laid conspi raq, to mislead a few benevolent individuals London, who bad assembled to apply, on behalf of those unhappy criminals, to the Crown—and to render those persons, if possible, - subservient to the schemes of sedition and calumny. There is something peculiarly - callous in feeling, and audacious in spirit, which characte rises the disaffection of the present times. There is no o'ccurrenre too delicate—no event too me lancholy—no occasion too sa,cred, co rebuke i , s malice, or to overawe its insolcuce. lr turns every thing to account ; employs every thing in aid of its designs, and strains and tortures every accident . , adventure, Or Calamity, to inflame the minds of the ignorant,. and to indispose the body of the populace to the Laws and Government of the country. • " A public writer—a notorious one, certa:nly bns openly Jared to call the execution of the Law, upon the unhappy culprits alluded to: by the name Murder.—lt was not enough to pervert the awful misery of three wretched men, - doomed to iitto an occasion of popular violence, but the very act of public justice by which their crimes. were expiated to their country has befit branded as a Murder ! In furtherance of tlfe scheme of exciting popular commotion upon this occasion, a Meeting of the Ward of Bread•street, in Lon don, was conjured up, and the inhabitants, by the united powers of falsehood and forgery, were in duced to sign their n imes to a gross falsehood, and to forward the offspring of (laud and credu lity to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent. — The Meeting of this Ward was brought about, scarcely any body knoWs how. The Civic 01. , liter, whose presence should have sanctioned it, %vas %vanting—an unauthorised stratagem vas practised—and a Meeting, nesanctioned by the law, took place, to be prictised upon by- the Most mischievous spirit of imposture. Those who .were the dupes of this scheme, acted owns goof]. feelings. They obeyed the impulses of hu manity, without suspecting the trick which the Revolutionary Divan was practising, at the ex pence of their credit for sense or propriety. In all those transactions a settled purpose. is display ed, to bring the administration of justice—and that, too, in its most awful dispensations—into popular aversion ; to vilify the character of the Secretary for the• Home Department, and to bring into contempt the person and the' au thority of his Royal Highness the Prince Re gent. With respect to the two latter objects, it has been presumed, and we conceive rightly, that the Law is yet in sufficient vigour to punish the calumny, and that public justice is not yet so li belled out at its wholesome power, but that it has sufficient punishment in store for such offences.— But, as to the first, it may not be amiss to point out a few plain and familiar truths, at a season when such pains-are taking to coutfound all just ideas couceroing yerdicts and condemnations, and to promote the schemes of revolution, by tar nishing the administration of Criminal Justice. The pure administration- of justice is the foundation of civil-society. Without that, there is not .one gOod to be found in human associa tions. That it should be found utterly exempt from the effects of those imPertections which in here in all bran-an applications of duty to princ i- pies, in. all the exercises of human reason, and all the dictations of human feeling, would be very absurd.—Let the members of Courts - of Justice be composed with ever so - much fastidiousness ira "selection—let their -powers and their ,offices be mundrated with ever so much precision—let the principle's of the jurisprudence he ever so liberal and wise in their general. bearing,--add to these the most exact responsibility, looked for by the most impatient jealousy which can exist with a just moral feeling in the body of the public— and, not%dthstanding ail this, cases stamped with the fallibility which belongs to all human delibe rations will occur, either through the infirtnity of the channels by which evidence is communicated, _9r through the infirmity of the minds or feelings. of those with whom such evidence is to centre. It is a serous thing to brand as a crime any fulfil ment of a sentence, which is itt conformity to the decision of a Court of Criminal Justice. It is a serious matter, indeed, to arraign the verdict of the Jury, the wisdom or integrity of the Judge who pronounced the sentence which the law con nected with that verdict, and to denounce the law itself—a Minister in his responsible station, and the Sovereign too—all conspiring to commit a murder. We believe it was Hume who ' said, that all the powerful establishments of Great Britain, all her armies and na vies, her Ministers, her ,revenue, and so forth, were in the end good for nothing, but to enable the Judges to go their Circuits without molesta tion, and to pronounce their opinions and exer cise their authority without hindrance or appre hension. There is sound wisdom in the observa tion, and it is tvell calculated to awaken in the public mind a sense of the essential importance of our Courts of Justice, anti of the respect which it is necessary to entertain for their honesty and their wibdoni, and of the great enormity which at taches to all attempts to bring these into suspi cion, and to degrade them in the eyes of the public." BIRTH. Cbriitraas-day, Mrs. B. I. T. Nightingale, of Craven- , street, of a sun, her ninth child, seven of whom arc living. MARRIE - f). On the 24th inst. at Sunbury, James Ross, LL.D. to Su sanna, eldest daughter of thu late John Smith, Esq. DIED. On the 23,1 lost. in the 10th year of her are, Rose, the youngrst daughter of D 1 r. Wallace, of Upper Edmonton. On the 17th 'lett. 111 r. Alex. "Iltomson. Civil Engineer of Boyd's Rape•walli, Rotherhithe, in the itid year of his age. PROVINCIAL Balms, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS. niniH4. On Monday last, at her rnOtlie r's, the Lady of Benjamin Cleave, Esq. of Newcombe House, Creditor, Devon, of a soli- Lately, Mrs. Mulcahy, wife of Mr. T. Mulcahy, George's" street, Cork., of a daughter. On the ißth inst. the Lady of Thomas MlKane, Esq: 0 1 Harcourt-street, Dublin, of a son. 14 A RRI ED. Lattlv, at Christ Church, Burrows Campbell, of Ei.q. Barrister at Law, LL.D. to Jane Matilda, youngest daughter of Watkins William Verling, of Cork, k:Sci. Lately, at Manaton, Devon, Mr. Thomas Heyward, of North Bovey, to Mrs. Scott, of the forup,r place. On the 15th inst. at Oakham, Mr. Jervis, Surgeon in thd, Rutland Militia, to Eliza, the second daughter of J. liroivos Esq. of Oakham, late of Loddington, Northamptonshire. DIED. Thursday week, at'Dr. Moore's, Exeter, the Rey. AI Moore, of Loraton, Rector of Chagford. On the sth inst. a t St. Ices, Margetts, Esq. On Wednesday evening, Mr..Mud.l, of Newmarket. On Tuesday last, Mr. James Gilihs, the parish clerk of P 6: tertiorough. fie was taken suddenly with a spasm at ti"' stomach, and was a corpse in a goal ter of an hour. On the 13111 inst. at Eton, aged 7.2. Mr. R. Atkins, printer, who for 55 years had been employed as a compositor 01 th e Greek and Latin hooks for the use of Eton School, titniog which time he was never known to spend 'an idle day, or eve° an idle hoar. LONDON: Printed by 3. B. CARSTAIRS. of 'No. 29, Ga t Ormond-strcet, (2uren-square; and pos,:ishrd by W. t r ; SCRIPPS, of No. 7, South Molton-strutt, at THE * 4 ' l (Mice, No. Ile, Strand ; ultete A dye' t isements, Or . ef" Letturs, (itwit-paid) must beiLidressui. '4 4t.